Author: cmariebissett

Carina Bissett is a writer, poet, and educator working primarily in the fields of speculative fiction and interstitial art. Her short fiction and poetry has been published in multiple journals and anthologies including Hath No Fury, Mythic Delirium, NonBinary Review, Timeless Tales, and The Horror ‘Zine. Her work has been nominated for several awards and she was the recipient of the 2016 HWA Scholarship. For links to stories and poems, stop by www.carinabissett.com.

Submission Roundup

Themed Calls

Glass & Gardens: Solarpunk Summers
Anthologist Sarena Ulibarri is looking for eco-conscious science fiction that imagines an optimistic future founded on renewable energies. NOTE: Keep it planet-based (Earth or other), and optimistic. Solarpunk worlds aren’t necessarily utopias, but they definitely aren’t dystopias.
Word Count: up to 8,000 words
Deadline: November 15, 2017
Payment: $0.01 per word + contributor copy

Enchanted Conversations Editor Kate Wolford is looking for fairy tale re-tellings of “Elves and the Shoemaker.” (NOTE: This is not a market for the following: sci-fi, dystopian, erotica, high fantasy, excessive world building, time-travel, futuristic, space travel, western.)
Word Count: 700-3,000 words
Deadline: November 30, 2017 (NOTE: Submissions do not open until Nov. 1)
Payment: $30

Beneath Yggdrasil’s Shadow Fantasia Divinity Magazine & Publishing is actively seeking submissions for this anthology of the forgotten goddesses of Norse mythology.
Word Count: 500-10,500 words
Deadline: November 30, 2017
Payment: one half-cent per word, with a minimum payment of $5 and a maximum of $15.

The Book Smugglers
Book Smugglers Publishing is currently open for short stories submissions on the theme of Awakenings. This dynamic duo plans to publish at least four pieces of short fiction–short stories (at least 1,500 words) or novelettes (up to 17,500 words)–unified by the central theme. Accepted stories will be published between May and August 2018. (NOTE: “When it comes to Awakenings, anything goes. You, the author, should feel free to take this general theme and interpret it in any way you see fit–from a story about an AI’s first hours of sentience, to magical alternate histories featuring characters discovering how to wield power for the first time, anything goes.”)
Word Count: 1,500-17,500 words
Deadline: December 31, 2017
Payment: $0.08 per word up to $800

Markets of Interest

Clarkesworld Magazine
Editor Neil Clarke put a shout-out for submissions as his inventory is currently low. He is looking for well-written science fiction and fantasy stories. “Science fiction need not be “hard” SF, but rigor is appreciated. Fantasy can be folkloric, contemporary, surreal, etc. Horror can be supernatural or psychological, so long as it is frightening. There are no barriers as to levels of profanity, gore, or sexuality allowed, but high amounts of profanity, gore, and sexuality are generally used poorly. Be sure to use them well if you do use them.” (NOTE: There is an extensive list of ‘had sells’ listed on the website.)
Word Count: 1,000-16,000 words, no exceptions
Deadline: Rolling
Payment: $0.10 per word for the first 5,000 words, $0.08 for each word over 5,000

Outlook Springs
This literary market is open for submission in a range of genres including experimental, science fiction, fantasy, slipstream, magical realism, minimalist, maximalist, and flash. (NOTE: There is a limit of two submissions per reading period.)
Word Count: 1,000-16,000 words, no exceptions
Deadline: January 15, 2018
Payment: $25

Contests

Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Awards
This contest centers on popular fiction in six categories: Romance, Thriller, Crime, Horror, Science-Fiction, and Young Adult.
Word Count: 4,000 words or less
Deadline: November 15, 2017
Entry Fee: $25 for your first manuscript; $20 for each additional manuscript
Prize(s): One Grand Prize winner ($2,500 in cash, a paid trip to the Writer’s Digest Conference, an interview with the author in Writer’s Digest’s May/June issue, $100 off a purchase at http://www.writersdigestshop.com, and a copy of the 2018 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market) and one First Prize winner in EACH category (an announcement of the winner in the May/June issue of Writer’s Digest, $500 in cash, $100 off a purchase at http://www.writersdigestshop.com, and a copy of the 2018 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market).

Mythraeum
This wonderful niche contest is currently accepting submissions for the Arachne Contest. Stories must feature the Arachne and Athena myth. All genres are accepted. (NOTE: This publisher often turns winning stories into short films.)
Word Count: up to 5,000 words
Deadline: November 30, 2017
Entry Fee: None
Prize: $300

Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest
This contest is for new and amateur writers of fantasy, dark fantasy, and science fiction. Entrants retain all publication rights. NOTE: The contest is open only to those who have not professionally published a novel or short novel, or more than one novelette, or more than three short stories, in any medium. Professional publication is deemed to be payment of at least $0.06 per word, and at least 5,000 copies, or 5,000 hits.
Word Count: up to 17,000 words
Deadline: December 31, 2017
Entry Fee: None
Prize(s): Quarterly awards of $1,000, $750, $500 with an additional Grand Prize of $5,000 awarded annually.

Seal Wives and Stamp Collections

Faroese_stamp_584_the_seal_woman — Stamp FO 584 of the Faroe Islands: The Seal Woman

Selkies, or seal people, can be found populating the folklore of the British Isles and Scandinavia. When they come to shore, these mythical creatures shed their seal skins and dance on the beaches in their human form. Although there are male selkies, it’s the women who often show up in the cultural myths. Labelled as part of the folklore attributed to animal brides, these stories often tell of a fisherman who spies a selkie girl and binds her in her human form by hiding her sealskin. But selkie wives are canny creatures. Even when they are trapped on land in their human forms and are forced into marriage with the human husbands who hold them hostage, they secretly wait for the day when they can reclaim their sealskin and return to their homes beneath the ocean.

In 2015, Denmark’s Faroe Islands celebrated one selkie myth with a stunning series of stamps detailing the story of “The Seal Wife.” In this story, the selkie wife is taken captive by a fisherman who hides her seal coat. Unable to return to the ocean, she is forced into marriage and ends up bearing him seven children. One day, the fisherman goes to work, but forgets the key to the trunk where his wife’s sealskin is hidden. She discovers her coat and returns to her seal form, leaving her human husband behind. Back in the ocean, the seal woman is reunited with her selkie husband and bears him two sons. However, the jilted fisherman tracks down her seal family and murders them. In retribution, the selkie vows to drag Faroese fishermen to a watery grave, until so many fishermen drown that there are enough dead to circle the islands holding hands. With 694 miles of coastline surrounding the Faroe Islands, the selkie’s vengeance will not rest until at least 613,736 fishermen have died.

There are 10 stamps in the The Seal Woman (kópakonan) series. These Faroe Islands stamps were designed by artist Edward Fuglø and were issued on February 12, 2007.

stamps-selkie

Spring Workshops Announced

intro3 The Fall semester is coming to a close and it’s time to announce the Spring schedule! Monstrous Women continues with more in-depth modules featuring the fabulous and the frightening. Participants do NOT need to have taken Monstrous Women I prior to taking Monstrous Women II. In Spring we will be exploring the following modules: The Shifting Shapes of Animal Brides, The Seductive Allure of the Femme Fatale, Weeping Women and Tearful Prophecies, The Female Descent into Hysteria and Madness, Women’s Vengeance Unleashed, and Mayhem in Numbers and the Sacred Three. This course meets weekly online via Skype with weekly meetings alternating between discussions and workshops.

Intersections: Science Fiction, Fairy Tales and Myth is moving away from the self-paced course and will be returning to the weekly, online generative workshop model with a series of ten modules designed to prompt story generation over the course of 16 weeks. Participants will explore fairy tales, folk tales, and world myths with links to scientific themes ranging from climate-based studies to technological advances. The Spring modules for this course are as follows: Elves and the Shoemaker & Wearable Technology; Sleeping Beauty & Science of Dreams; Nuada of the Silver Arm (The Mabinogion) & Cyborgs; The Goose Girl & Future of Facial Recognition; Trickster Tales & Military and Spy Technology; The Nightingale & Artificial Intelligence; Hansel and Gretel & Genetic Trauma; Arachne Myth and Spiderwoman Stories & Cosmic Web; Diamonds and Toads & Earth’s Dwindling Resources; Maenads & Science of Addiction.

Both Monstrous Women and in Science Fiction and Myth will meet weekly from the end of January through mid-May. Each class is limited to 5 participants and runs for 2-2.5 hours each week. Class times will be determined according to instructor and participant availability. Module materials include introductory information, select excerpts, resource links, popular re-tellings, quotes & trivia, writing prompts, and discussion questions. In addition to writing stories for each module, participants are expected to critique their peers’ work and to read discussion materials.

finishingschool In addition to these classes, The Storied Imaginarium will also be offering Finishing School for writers. If you have a stack of drafts and you need the incentive to complete and polish them, Finishing School is for you. In short, these workshops will be devoted to craft, discipline, revision, marketing, and networking. Participants will workshop four manuscripts over the course of 16 weeks with the intention of polishing these pieces for submission.

The cost for each of this 16-week courses is $600*. A 10% discount is available for returning students and there is an additional 10% discount for registration paid in full. Payment plans are available upon request.

*A percent of each registration will go towards a scholarship offered to students without the financial means to participate in courses at The Storied Imaginarium.

intro4

Workshop Schedule for Fall 2017

Monstrous Women I: A Feminist Approach to Myth and Magic

This intensive, online writing workshop explores the theme of monstrous women in literature and myth. Participants will explore goddesses and queens, monsters and mothers, soothsayers and shapeshifters. From the familiar to the obscure, these monstrous women seduce and beguile, pushing writers to take a closer look at the labels pasted on women who behave badly— whether they are supernatural or not.

Monstrous Women I includes the following modules: Great Goddesses of Death and Destruction, Matriarchal Monsters and First Females, Wicked Queens and Bloody Crowns, Witchy Women and Enchanted Attacks, The Monstrous Female Unveiled, & Lesbian Vampires and Lost Souls.

“I am happy only in that I am a monster.” — Angela Carter

NOTE: Monstrous Women II will be offered in Spring 2018 and will include the following modules: The Shifting Shapes of Animal Brides, The Seductive Allure of the Femme Fatale, Weeping Women and Tearful Prophecies, The Female Descent into Hysteria and Madness, Women’s Vengeance Unleashed, and Mayhem in Numbers and the Sacred Three. Registration will open in September. Space is limited.

Intersections I: Nature and Myth

This self-paced class explores the theme of the Intersection of Nature, Humanity, and Myth in a series of modules designed to prompt story generation over the course of 10 weeks. Participants will explore fairy tales, folklore, and world myths with links to scientific themes primarily in the fields of natural history, ecological news, and climate-based studies.

Intersections I: Nature & Myth includes the following modules: “The Firebird” & Bioluminescence, “Aristaeus, the Bee-keeper” (excerpt from Bulfinch’s Mythology) & Colony Collapse Disorder, “Fisherman and his Wife” and Climate Change & Our Warming Oceans, “The Swan Maiden” & Migratory Pathways, “Johnny Appleseed” and GMOs & the Changing Face of Food, “Isis and Osiris” (excerpt from The Osiris Myth) & Fracking/Agriculture, The King of the Wood” (excerpt from The Golden Bough) & The Internet of Fungus, and “Pied Piper” & Viruses.

“Cli-fi is a truly modern literary phenomenon: born as a meme and raised into a distinct genre by the power of social media.” — “Climate Fiction: Can Books Save the Planet?” at The Atlantic Monthly

	neuravinci on The Myth of Arachne
	neuravinci on The Folklore of the Yuki …
	neuravinci on The Folklore of Oshiroi B…
	neuravinci on The Folklore of Vasilisa the…
	ktwagner519 on Spring Workshop Schedule

Themed Calls

Markets of Interest

Contests

​Monstrous Women I: A Feminist Approach to Myth and Magic

Intersections I: Nature and Myth

Monstrous Women I: A Feminist Approach to Myth and Magic